Mentorship is a powerful tool, giving students and recent graduates access to an informal ‘professional friend’, someone with experience within an organisation or business who will help mentees with their career plans, employability and accessing graduate roles.

 

The SETAC UK mentoring scheme is informal and mentee-led. A partnership which helps the mentee to gain ‘insider’ understanding and knowledge which is vital to their success in the graduate labour market. A mentor can develop leadership skills and gain a personal sense of satisfaction from knowing that they have helped someone.

 

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We have two mentorship programmes which you may be interested in:

 

1. Professional mentoring - matches students and recent graduates to a professional from their area of interest e.g. academia, business or government. Mentoring support may include help with a CV, introduction to colleagues or insight into a sector or leading organisation.

2. Peer mentoring - is delivered by using ‘experienced’ students to mentor individuals from an earlier educational stage e.g. PhD mentor and MSc mentee, 2nd/ 3rd year PhD mentor and 1st year PhD mentee or MSc / PhD mentor and undergraduate mentee.

 

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Mentor Expectations

• Be realistic about what you can do for your mentee and help them understand what kinds of assistance they can expect from you.

• Analyse what your mentee needs and help them develop a productive balance between seeking help from you and taking on more responsibility over time as they develop professionally.

• Your mentees will differ in their needs and willingness to seek help, and some may not have a firm grip of their goals or needs. While you should establish standards of excellence and professionalism for all your mentees, adjust your approach depending on the development stage of each mentee.

 

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Mentee Expectations

• Be realistic about what any one mentor can do for you, and avoid requesting too much assistance or assistance that is too broad.

• Remember that mentors can respond better to requests for specific types of assistance than to requests for general mentoring. Analyse what you need from a mentor and explicitly ask for those things.

• Finally, remember that part of your task as a student/ graduate is to develop and demonstrate your abilities as a colleague and a professional. Discuss with your mentor ways that you can take on more responsibility over time.

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If you would like additional information about our mentorship scheme or would like to become a mentor or mentee please contact us at setacukbranch@gmail.com or click on the button below. 

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